Finding Faith in Fair Trade from Shared Interest

A DIARY OF A TRIP TO CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA FOR PATRICIA ALEXANDER, ELISABETH WILSON AND HUGO VILLELA

By Elisabeth Wilson

Wednesday 5 November

Despite now starting to flag slightly, this is the part of the trip to which Patricia and I had particularly been looking forward as this is where our current Latin America office is based.

Ana, Hugo’s trusted assistant, collected us from the airport and it was great to meet her as hardly anyone in the Newcastle office really knows her. After lunch, we were taken to see the office itself which is light, airy and now (necessarily) very secure; the people with whom Hugo and Ana share all seemed to be very friendly. Hugo introduced us to the squirrels in the trees outside the windows and, more importantly, to ‘Briky’, the office Bonsai with which he happily chats away.

In the afternoon, we drove out of San Jose up into the mountains under thick cloud and in pouring rain. We were off to visit with Pablo, the General Manager and Minor of La Alianza at their coffee shop. I don’t think I have ever seen such a long menu of solely organic coffees and, of course, Hugo had to partake! I have never seen anyone drink so much coffee – he has requested both a cup and a refill during every visit we have made! La Alianza were our first customer in Costa Rica back in 2006 and Hugo initially shared an office with them. Hugo and Pablo have a mutually beneficial relationship and share networks, leads and contacts. (It was apparently La Alianza who introduced Shared Interest to Sustainable Harvest, another of our customer). There is some further lending potential with La Alianza for a smallish amount beginning early next year to help them add value to their business by stocking green beans prior to roasting and selling them. Minor commented that Shared Interest is the first financial company to believe in La Alianza ; it was not the first time we had heard such a sentiment uttered during our trip.

We had discovered on landing at the airport that our UK mobiles don’t work in Costa Rica as there is apparently no agreement between the networks. We felt utterly lost – whatever did we do before their invention?! In the evening, after a pleasant day, things took a turn for the worse for Patricia and myself. Both the restaurant and, more importantly, the bar in our hotel were closed! The receptionist suggested a nearby traditional restaurant but could give us no map of the area. Having risked life and limb to cross the main road to get there, our nice traditional restaurant turned out to be a sports bar showing live football!

On returning to our hotel, we discovered that due to a fault with the electronic lock, Patricia was unable to get into her room. One and a half hours later, I watched as the receptionist climbed a ladder through the foliage and broke the window to finally get into her room. As we have not slept in the same bed on any 2 consecutive nights for the past week, the last thing Patricia wanted to do was to move rooms but move she had to.